Opera Buffa, Opera Seria
by Sandilynn Petersen
Summary: Murdock sings many things but sometimes when he is navigating an aircraft, be it ultralight, airplane or chopper, he sings opera. In this series, Murdock expresses himself in operatic song on very different occasions and for very different reasons. Does he do it to entertain, to take care of loneliness, to express his zest for life or to eliminate his fear? You be the judge.
1. Chapter 1 Opera Buffa

Opera Buffa, Opera Seria

Disclaimer: I do not own The A Team movie or television series or any of the delightful characters found on The A Team.

AN: The duet "All'idea di quel metallo" can be found on YouTube done by various groups. You can get a fuller understanding of what is going on in this scene by watching one of the videos. (And be amazed by the operatic abilities the singers must have to sing the duet.)

Part 1. Opera Buffa

Hannibal settled himself into a wooden chair on the deck of the beach house. In his hands was the latest edition of the _Los Angeles Times_. The sun, low on the horizon yet, promised to scorch the beach sand later in the afternoon. For now a gentle breeze complemented the solar rays but the breeze was expected to die down later in the day.

It was a perfect midmorning to read and let nature lull him into a drowsy state of well-being if not an outright nap.

Face had gone into town to buy groceries and scam a long laundry list of items they would need for their next mission. He left a couple of hours ago, but not before first complaining that some of the things would be extremely difficult to get his hands on. Hannibal had merely laughed at him and told him to get moving before they all got so old they would need walkers and wheelchairs to go after the bad guys.

B. A. was tinkering with several bugging devices and transmitters. Once again, Hannibal was amazed at how deftly the burly Sergeant manipulated the smallest components into electronic devices the size of a one-inch diameter button.

And Murdock? Hannibal wasn't sure what he was doing. That was sometimes not a good idea. He hoped the pilot was somewhere far enough away from B. A. as to allow him to work undisturbed and doing something quiet and normal enough so as not to test the Sergeant's patience.

For a half hour, the atmosphere around Hannibal was filled with the faint cries of gulls skimming the surface of the water and the rhythmic lapping of waves on the beach.

He turned to the sports section where the main headline was game three of the World Series, the Baltimore Orioles against the Philadelphia Phillies.

From somewhere in the beach house, Murdock began to sing. It sounded like Italian.

"All'idea di quel metallo  
portentoso, onnipossente,  
un vulcano la mia mente  
incomincia a diventar."

_Not bad either, and I don't even understand what he's singing. _

Hannibal smiled. He would have preferred nature's sounds but Murdock's singing was alright, too. Settling back to read the line scores of the baseball game, he sighed when the first guttural warning growl came to his ears.

_I should have expected as much. _

"Shut up, fool!"

"But B. A.! How'll Billy 'n' I be able to sing 'All'idea di quel metallo' t'gether if we don' practice?"

"There ain' no dog an' even if there were . . . "

"So yer willin' t' entertain th' possibility . . . "

"Did no such thing, fool!"

"You jus' don' like opera." There was a sneering quality to Murdock's retort.

"You got that right. An' I certainly don' like it comin' from you an' your stupid invisible dog!"

"Ah ha! Ya jus' said ya heard Billy singin'." The triumphant tone in Murdock's voice became one of curiosity. "So whaddya think? I figured Billy could be Count Almaviva since he's got a high tenor voice 'n' Figaro's usually a baritone like me."

"Ain' no dog, fool! An' dogs don' sing anyway. They howl an' bark."

"I'll have ya know, Big Guy, I taught Billy how t' speak _and_ read Italian myself jus' so's he _can_ do duets with me." Hannibal couldn't be sure but Murdock sounded serious about all of this. When Murdock got serious about something that drove B. A. crazy, it sometimes went too far. Someone could get hurt and it would likely not be the Sergeant.

Carrying the paper with him into the living room, the Colonel was just in time to find B. A. standing up with both fists clenched. One look at Murdock's face made Hannibal realize the pilot was caught up in the current delusion.

_I wonder if he's been skipping his meds again. _

Too late to think very much about that. He would _make sure_ to check on it later. For now, he had to stand in as mediator between the two men and make peace. He dropped his unread newspaper onto an end table and folded his arms.

"Oh hi, Colonel. Billy 'n' I were jus' puttin' in some time gettin' somethin' ready t' entertain ya'll nex' time we have a campfire." He frowned, thrusting out his lower lip in a pout. "But th' Big Guy here gave Billy a bad case o' stage fright. Said he hated opera. Said Billy didn' sing good 'nough."

"Said he wasn' real an' can' sing at all. Get it right, fool."

He wanted to say the right words, ones that neither man would take the wrong way.

_Why does it sometimes feel like when it comes to B. A. and Murdock, I'm negotiating peace between two hostile foreign countries before war breaks out? _

Now that he was in the same room, Hannibal noticed B. A. had relaxed a little. He also noticed the components to the electronic devices were scattered across the coffee table as if they had been thrown aside in frustration.

Maybe it was time for B. A. to take a break from what he was doing _and_ learn a lesson in tolerance at the same time.

He knew when he indulged Murdock's delusions, B. A. didn't like it. But the Sergeant wasn't about to go against Hannibal when he did.

The Colonel took a seat in the recliner and leaned it back. Folding his hands in his lap, he addressed Murdock while motioning B. A. to take a seat on the sofa. "Well, what opera are Billy and you rehearsing?"

Murdock blushed a little under the Sergeant's lingering glare. Then he flashed Hannibal a grateful lopsided grin.

"_Il barbiere di Siviglia, The Barber of Seville. _Rossini. It ain' the whole opera. Jus' one li'l part of it. I ain' memorized all the words t' th' whole opera yet."

B. A. groaned a rumbling protest over the thought of more musical interludes coming his way.

Hannibal had to admit to being impressed. He knew Murdock was multilingual and highly intelligent but memorizing an entire opera in its original language had to be tough. He must have spent quite some time on it.

"I'm somewhat familiar with the storyline. Which part of the opera are you doing?" He was pleased to see Murdock's grin widen with the prospect of an appreciative audience. The Captain was alone too much of the time between missions when he was back at the VA hospital.

_He doesn't fit in with the other hospital patients and he tries hard to fit in on the outside with us. Is it so much to ask from us for the two of us to listen? _

"You know the part in the first act where Count Almaviva's tryin' t' figure out a way t' meet Rosina 'n' he asks Figaro fer advice? It's that duet they do t'gether. 'All'idea di quel metallo.'" The pilot's eyes were sparkling with enthusiasm for his subject. "Now Billy ain' memorized th' whole thing like me but we can do it up t' where he _has _got it memorized."

Hannibal nodded and smiled.

"Ya ready, Colonel?" Murdock's entire face and body were animated with excitement over showing the two men what he and his invisible dog could do.

"Aw, Hann'bal!" B. A. grumbled, crossing his arms in disgust.

"Whenever you are, Captain. But maybe you should translate it into English as you sing it. It'll help B. A. and me understand it a little better being we don't have libretti in front of us." The Colonel raised his eyebrows in innocence when the Sergeant cast an especially dark look his way.

"Okie dokie. Here goes." Murdock repeated the lines Hannibal heard before the argument.

"All'idea di quel metallo  
portentoso, onnipossente,  
un vulcano la mia mente  
incomincia a diventar.

It means 'At the idea of this metal portentous, omnipotent, a volcano within me commences to erupt, yes."

"Man, does that even make sense?" B. A. wrinkled his nose but Murdock ignored him.

The pilot affected the type of sympathetic pose he would take while listening to someone. He frowned after a moment and glanced at the Sergeant.

"I'm gonna hafta sing along with Billy. Ya scared 'im so much with yer angry talk, he's 'fraid he's gonna make a mistake. It's gonna mess up th' harmony on th' duet but maybe by then he won' be 'fraid anymore."

The black man snorted softly. He kept his opinion to himself this time after Hannibal shot him a warning look.

Murdock blushed again, turned in position as if he were the other person in the duet and began in a slightly higher tenor voice.

"Su, vediam di quel metallo  
qualche effetto sorprendente,  
del vulcan della tua mente  
qualche mostro singolar.

Come, let's see what effect this metal will have on you, some real demonstration of this volcano within you, yes."

Without pausing, he switched back to the personage of Figaro and sang, "Voi dovreste travestirvi, per esempio ... da soldato. You should disguise yourself, for instance . . . as a soldier."

"A soldier?" B. A. straightened a little on the sofa.

"Shhh, B. A. Let him continue," Hannibal whispered.

"Da soldato? A soldier?" And Murdock frowned as if he, as the Count, were questioning the advice the barber of Seville was offering.

"Si, signore. Yes sir."

"Da soldato? ... e che si fa? As a soldier? . . . and for what purpose?" By now B. A. was following every hand motion, every emotional expression on the pilot's face as if he were intently watching a football game on the television. The idea of running around in disguise as a soldier evidently appealed to him.

"Oggi arriva un reggimento. Today a regiment is expected here." And as the barber of Seville, Murdock winked and raised his eyebrows as if waiting for the invisible Count to understand his meaning.

"Sì, è mio amico il Colonnello. Yes, the Colonel is a friend of mine." The pilot left character just long enough to glance at Hannibal and give him a warm smile.

"Va benon. Excellent!"

"Eppoi? And then?" As the Count, Murdock paced back and forth, clasping his hands together behind his back.

He stopped suddenly and assumed the persona of Figaro to explain.

"Cospetto!  
Dell'alloggio col biglietto  
quella porta s'aprirà."

By means of a billet that door will soon open."

Murdock was too caught up in the dual role he was performing to pay much mind to either man. He didn't even notice when the front door opened and Face entered, carrying a brown paper bag full of groceries.

Hannibal gestured for him to put the bag down and have a seat. The Lieutenant sank into the space beside B. A. on the sofa and raised his eyebrows in confusion.

The pilot finished Figaro's line and stopped when he spied his best friend.

"Che ne dite, mio signore?  
Non vi par? Non l'ho trovata?

What say you to this, sir? Don't you think I've hit it right? Isn't it a fine idea, happy thought, in very truth? Oh hi, Faceman." He immediately looked at the Colonel and B. A. "That last part wasn' s'posed t' be there."

"Continue, Captain, Billy."

That warm smile appeared again and turned into a huge grin. "Well, this's the part where Billy 'n' I gotta do some harmonizin'. Here goes."

"Che invenzione prelibata!  
Bravo, bravo,  
in verità!  
Bella, bella.

Isn't it a fine idea, happy thought, in very truth!" He paused to take some breaths.

Before any of them could applaud, he became Figaro again, holding his pointer finger in the air as if about to command attention.

"Piano, piano ... un'altra idea!  
Veda l'oro cosa fa.  
Ubriaco ... sì, ubriaco,  
mio signor, si fingerà.

Softly, softly … another thought! See the power of your gold! You must pretend to be drunk."

He hesitated and stared into the empty space in front of him before turning to them, casting his gaze down at the floor at his feet in apology. "I'm 'fraid that's all the further Billy 'n' I got." Scuffing the toe of his shoe against the carpeted floor, he shrugged, his hands clasped together in front of him. "I hope ya guys liked it."

B. A. himself started the applause. Hannibal stood up and walked over to put one arm over the pilot's shoulders. "You and Billy did an excellent job."

Murdock peeked sideways at him before a shy hesitant smile brightened his face. "We been workin' on it for 'bout a week whenever I wasn' too doped up t' help Billy with his part. The nurses 'n' orderlies kinda thought I was havin' an episode. Took Doctor Richter t' tell 'im t' let me 'n' Billy practice. He knew we weren' tryin' t' cause any trouble by it."

"That was pretty amazing, what I saw of it, buddy." Face got up and joined Hannibal on the pilot's other side. He patted his friend on the shoulder. "You're going to have to do the entire thing for me sometime."

"Really?" Murdock looked at him in disbelief.

"Really."

B. A. leaned forward to pick up one of the devices he had been working on.

"Big Guy?" Murdock watched him begin to work on a micro-transmitter. Then he sighed in resignation and turned to walk away.

"Make sure ya learn the rest of it so I can find out what happens." B. A. grunted his approval without glancing up from his work. He didn't see the triumphant punch the pilot gave the air above his head or the smile passed between Hannibal and Face. The three men walked out to the deck to give B. A. some peace and quiet.

As they passed the end table, Hannibal glanced at his neglected paper. Some things were much more important than the play by play description of a baseball game.

Much more important.


	2. Chapter 2 Opera Seria

Opera Buffa, Opera Seria

Disclaimer: I do not own The A Team movie or television series or any of the delightful characters found on The A Team.

Part 2. Opera Seria

Hannibal surged forward to deliver a vicious punch to one of five mob thugs sent to intercept Murdock and him in Bronson Canyon.

To the older man's left, the Captain ducked under a right cross. The henchman's fist slammed into the rock wall behind the pilot's back. He howled in pain as Murdock dodged another man who tried to grapple him around the waist. The Captain's eyes were focused on a more immediate danger to his CO than the ham-like fists of the strongmen that surrounded them.

"Watch out, Colonel!" The pilot yelled out a warning and threw himself between a knife-brandishing thug and his friend's back.

Hannibal turned in time to see the Captain clutch his right side and fall to his knees.

"Oh, God, that hurt!" he gasped before collapsing onto the rocky ground. He curled his lanky frame around his injury and received a kick to his back from the man with the broken, bleeding knuckles.

"Captain!" The distraction allowed the five mob strongmen to capitalize on the advantage they had. Two assailants wrenched Hannibal's arms behind him and held him back from the injured man on the ground.

The enraged thug circled the pilot, kicking wherever he saw an opening to inflict the most damage. Each time his foot connected, the action was met with a soft short grunt of pain. When his kick landed on Murdock's right knee, the pilot jerked and cried out, reaching down to wrap his hand over it.

The strongman smirked with satisfaction. "Ah, a sensitive spot, huh? I'll have to remember that for later."

He squatted to clutch a handful of the injured man's hair and lift his head to make eye contact. "Our boss wants to know where your nurse friend Daniela Scalatini is, flyboy. He wants those documents back, too. And sooner or later, one of you is going to tell him exactly what he wants to know."

Murdock snorted and spat blood from his mouth onto the thug's shirt before answering. "Like tha's likely t' happen. I ain' gonna turn 'er over t' be dragged back t' Chi-town t' be killed. Neither'll the Colonel."

"And those papers are going to put your boss away for a long time, maybe long enough to see Miss Scalatini get married and have children and a happy life," Hannibal added.

The Captain glared into the man's face for a moment before letting his gaze flicker toward Hannibal. In the brief second he did, the thug holding him drew back his fist and smashed Murdock in the jaw.

The pilot went limp.

Standing above the unconscious man, the strongman caressed his battered knuckles and motioned to two of his associates. "Take both of them to the van. Mister Enzinina will enjoy reasoning with them."

oooooo

Andre Enzinina was a persistent man. He was certain one of the two, when faced with the torture and possible death of the other, would be sure to give the location of the Scalatini girl the team was shielding and the papers they had stolen. Rank had its privileges. He had just finished with the silver-haired Colonel and now waited for the Scalatini girl's lover to wake up.

He stared with chilled calculation at the unconscious Captain bound to the chair in front of him. Cocking one eyebrow at his right hand man, "Big Lon" Leonardo Amardio, he gestured for him to wake his captive up.

The thug picked up a bucket of water and emptied it over the injured pilot.

Murdock sputtered and shook his head groggily. Remembering his last moments of consciousness, he bit the inside of his lower lip to prevent himself from saying something stupid and bringing any additional punches to his body. He was certain there would be plenty of that coming in the next few hours. And if B. A. and Face couldn't find and rescue him soon . . . _well, that ain' somethin' I wanna dwell on fer too long. _

He glanced around him through half-slitted eyes, sustaining the illusion of semi-consciousness as long as he could.

Dim sunlight shafted through grime-coated windows set high above them. The air inside the building smelled of dust and motor oil. The mob boss Enzinina leaned against a pallet of shipping crates. In his right hand a slender cigar burned, its smoke drifting upward to meet the meager sun rays.

_Warehouse o' some kind. But where? _

He hoped these low lifes hadn't done more than a cursory scan for weapons. Both Hannibal and he had tracking devices installed in their belt buckles and Murdock had an audio wire and small microphone sewn into the collar of his flannel shirt. He wasn't sure if the water had ruined both devices. They had expected trouble when they agreed to meet with Enzinina's representative.

_But Hann'bal thought th' front door approach'd get us in t' see th' big boss quicker. Guess he was right. _

They were supposed to give him incriminating documents Face had stolen in exchange for an agreement to cancel the death contract out on Daniela.

_Well, they don' have the papers 'cause we didn' bring 'em. We already knew the Mob don' know how t' play fair._

Remembering the ambush and fight brought another thought into Murdock's mind.

_Hann'bal! Th' Colonel was with me. What'd they do with him? _

As if reading his mind, Enzinina chuckled. "Your friend wasn't a font of information. Big Lon here didn't get him to say much of anything. I'm quite sure you won't either, especially since Miss Scalatini seems to be important to you. But we can have fun seeing if that's true."

"What'd ya do t' th' Colonel? Where is he?" Murdock found his voice, forcing it past the mucous clog of blood that had accumulated down the back of his throat and in his mouth. He swallowed several times to make himself sound stronger than he felt.

Murdock's cap and bomber jacket lay beside him on the floor at his feet. There was drying blood on the inside lining of the leather jacket. He became aware of pulsing pain in his right side. Looking down, he noted the six-inch slash in the bright orange-yellow Gumby t-shirt.

_Damn! One o' my favorite shirts, too. Feels like he cut me good. _

It slowly registered in his mind that the blood soaked the entire lower right half of the shirt and was rapidly spreading to his khaki pants. A dark red drop fell to the floor into a slowly widening pool.

_Wonder if he nicked somethin' he shouldn'ta. _

Enzinina strolled over to the chair and stuck his cigar in the corner of his mouth as he examined Murdock's knife wound with his fingers. Every muscle in the pilot's body trembled with the agony. As the mob boss probed deeper into the raw bleeding gash, Murdock struggled against his bonds. His breath came in short pained huffs and he gritted his teeth against the scream that wanted to escape.

Straightening, Enzinina wiped the blood from his hands with a handkerchief and motioned nonchalantly at the gash. "That looks pretty bad. You should really let us help you."

His mind was clouding with the onset of dizziness from blood loss and what the mob boss had just done. Forcing himself to meet the mobster's gaze, the pilot tried to think of a smart retort, the kind both Hannibal and he were known to make in the face of almost certain death.

Nothing came to him.

Big Lon removed a notebook-sized black leather case from a duffel bag and unzippered it to lay flat on a dusty tabletop. Even in the low light, Murdock saw the soft glint of several metal tools and shivered involuntarily.

_If they ain' brought the bad stuff out b'fore now, maybe it means they didn' use it on Hann'bal. _

"Help me? I don' think so. Don' think that's on yer list o' things t' do b'fore ya die." Murdock tried to focus his attention on Enzinina and ignore the care his henchman was taking in preparing his arsenal of metal instruments. He could not prevent his eyes from shifting for a second to Enzinina's chief interrogator and right hand man. The deadly amusement he saw in the man's face made him swallow hard.

"If it's any consolation, Big Lon here is very good at what he does. It shouldn't take long." The mob boss smiled with mock reassurance.

Murdock shifted in the chair or at least as much as the ropes around his chest confining him to the chair allowed him.

He needed a diversion, something that would throw them off their game as long as possible. Maybe they wouldn't begin working Hannibal over again if he could drive them a little crazy.

Maybe . . .

_a li'l opera? 'N' God help me if they know what th' words mean. 'Course th' big guy there looks like th' only culture he's got came from th' yogurt he ate. Don' know 'bout his boss. _

He closed his eyes, shutting out the nightmare of Big Lon's special arsenal of tools, and focused on playing the part of Rigoletto, the hunchbacked court jester. If he escaped enough into the delusion he could cast Big Lon in the part of Sparafucile the hired assassin.

Becoming someone else if only for a short while helped him overcome fear in the past. He slowed and steadied his breathing and began to sing.

"Pari siamo: io la lingua, egli ha il pugnale. (We are two of a kind: my weapon is my tongue, his is a dagger.)"

_Ain' that th' truth? _

"What the hell?" That was Big Lon. Murdock couldn't stop to catch the look on either man's face. If he opened his eyes, the magic would be gone and he would stop seeing himself on stage singing his aria. If the magic disappeared, the pain from whatever Big Lon would do would become very real very quickly.

"L' uomo son io che ride, ei quel che spegne! (I am a man of laughter, he strikes the fatal blow!)" To emphasize the words, Murdock allowed a maniacal cackle escape from him to echo through the building.

He hoped the Colonel wasn't conscious to know what he was trying to do. He knew his CO too well. Hannibal would create enough of a racket to get Enzinina and Big Lon to respond to him and leave Murdock alone.

_Could get t' be quite a li'l contest 'tween us, seein' who made th' most noise t' get their 'ttention. _

"No one's gonna hear ya, tough guy." The henchman crunched grit under the soles of his shoes as he neared the bound pilot. "And I like hearing screams. Tells me I'm doin' my job right."

Murdock sucked in a breath as he heard the words. They were meant to intimidate him.

_'N' if I think on 'em long 'nough, they will. _

He squeezed his eyes tightly shut. He sensed Big Lon kneel next to him . . .

_. . . t' do what? . . . _

. . . and felt the fabric of his pants leg on his right side being slit from knee to cuff.

_What's Rigoletto's nex' lines? Think, H. M., think! _

The jester's words came to him as the blade of the scalpel lightly traced the thin white scar from an old war wound.

"Quel vecchio maledivami . . . O uomini! . . . o natura! . . . Vil scellerato mi faceste voi! (The old man cursed me . . . O men! . . . o nature! It was you who made me evil and corrupt!)"

_Nam made th' evil come out. Too much evil. 'Nough t' make me think twice 'bout ever killin' someone ever 'gain. Don' seem t' bother these two. _

"Had surgery on this knee in the past, huh? That's too bad. Must of hurt a lot." The henchman's low crooning voice chilled Murdock as much as the sensation of the cold steel against his skin.

_If he only knew. Almost lost this leg t' infection. Land on it jus' right 'n' it still pains me. _

That was another thought he wanted to avoid. Amputation would have sidelined him, kept him from being with the team, his family, as much as he was.

He heard Big Lon shift positions, pick something up from the floor.

_Keep singin'. Don' let 'im see ya sweat. _

"O rabbia! . . . esser difforme! . . . esser buffone! (O rage! . . . to be misshapen! . . . to be a jester! . . . )" he managed before the white-hot pain of the scalpel tip being driven into the flesh above his knee turned the words into a half-stifled wail.

Big Lon shimmied the scalpel back and forth in the wound he created as he drew it out.

"The Scalatini girl and my papers, Captain Murdock?"

He heard Enzinina's voice but couldn't form the words to respond. The fresh pain in his knee sucked his breath away for several seconds.

It was difficult pretending to be Rigoletto when that drew all his focus. He shook his head feebly back and forth.

_My lines, my lines! Gotta 'member my lines. _

He opened his eyes in time to see Big Lon's hand hover above his knee in a new location. The scalpel handle, what he could see of it, glinted dully. Blood, his blood, discolored the blade.

As the scalpel descended, he took a deeper breath and braced himself. Watching was as bad as waiting. It was stupid of him to open his eyes to see what the interrogator was up to. He knew that, remembered that from the camps. But not knowing was almost as agonizing as the pain itself. So he watched and tried to refocus on Rigoletto.

_Oh God. What was th' las' thing I sang? 'Bout bein' a jester. B. A. always calls me a fool. Maybe I am. But I can't give Dani up t' these slimeballs. _

The sound of an engine revving outside drew the henchman's attention and hand away.

"Non dover, non poter altro che ridere! (To be permitted nothing but to laugh!)" he choked out, wanting to believe that B. A. and Face were behind the angry noise of the screeching tires and roaring motor. "Il retaggio d' ogni uom m'e tolto . . . il pianto. (I'm denied that common human right, to weep ….)"

_If it ain' them, I'm a dead man. _

The steel door of the warehouse crumpled under the assault of the accelerating vehicle as it entered and skidded to a halt. Someone sprayed the opposite wall with a line of bullets just above Enzenina's head.

"Drop it or the next round takes out your boss!"

His muscles became like jello and he sagged in the chair. His head filled with the white noise of dizziness.

"Hey, crazy man. We could hear yer singin' across the whole warehouse district. Ya still with me, Murdock?" It was B. A.'s voice from somewhere over his right shoulder.

He tried to answer but it was like pushing his way through an anesthetic after surgery. Darkness was luring him.

"H. M.!" The sweetest voice he thought he would never hear again called his name from a distance. Someone ran toward him. Soon after, he felt her hand stroking back his hair, her arms holding him, hugging him, even as B. A. worked at getting him untied.

"Gotta let me get him loose, Dani girl. Soon as I get 'im inta the van, I'm gonna have you put pressure on that knife wound in his side. Got it?"

"I'm a nurse, Sergeant. I know what to do. Just hang in there, H. M. Don't leave me," she murmured into his ear.

_I'm tryin' not to, darlin'. I'm tryin' not to. _

Face's voice was being quickly muffled by the pilot's descent into the darkness but he managed to hear the essentials. Hannibal was in the van, hurting badly but still alive. Enzinina and Big Lon were tied up and locked in the same room the Colonel had been kept. The cops had the evidence and the address to find them.

When B. A. released the ropes around his wrists, ankles and chest, Murdock slid unconscious off the chair into the pool of his own blood.


	3. Chapter 3 Romantische Oper

Opera Buffa, Opera Seria

AN: The title is German for romantic opera. You can find "Oh du mein holder Abendstern" on YouTube sung by different baritone singers. It is quite beautiful. I highly recommend a listen. Now whether Murdock could sing it? I don't know. Can you picture him singing it?

Disclaimer: I do not own The A Team movie or television series or any of the delightful characters found on The A Team.

Part 3. Romantische Oper

Murdock wandered in a disoriented state through an ebony world of fog and muffled sounds. The only things he knew were real were the pains in his knee and side. Even those dulled and lessened as time passed.

The indistinct voices he thought he heard after B. A. released him from the chair were swallowed in the deafening roar of the white noise that filled the chilled atmosphere around him. He felt both paralyzed and free to move at the same time. A paradox, a mystery he couldn't puzzle out.

Something nudged his physical body from where he lay on his left side. Now he rested on his back but his soul and spirit drifted.

_Am I insane? I feel all sep'rated out, like my body's one place 'n' all th' rest o' me's floatin' 'way. Like th' ol' CIA mind 'xperiments Jackson ran on me. _

If his life was like an opera, he guessed this particular scene could be described by the words sung by Wolfram in Richard Wagner's opera _Tannhäuser_. His lungs were working overtime to deliver enough air to keep him alive and his mouth would not cooperate but he could think the words in his head and pretend he was singing.

_Least it'll be th' best performance I ever did. Won' be outta tune 'r anythin'. _

He tried to smile to reassure those around him but failed.

"Wie Todesahnung Dämmrung deckt die Lande,  
umhüllt das Tal mit schwärzlichem Gewande . . .  
(Like a portent of death, twilight shrouds the earth  
and envelops the valley in its sable robe . . . )"

oooooo

"Faceman! Help me get th' fool up on 'is feet! Gotta get movin'!"

B. A. crouched by Murdock's unconscious form as he lay on his left side in the pool of blood. Rolling him onto his back, the Sergeant took in the slit pants leg and the slashed orange-yellow T-shirt, the green Gumby character splotched with red. He winced at the sight of the two-inch long gouge in the flesh above the pilot's knee. It was the same knee the VC guards beat with their rifle butts in the POW camp.

_Almost lost th' leg b'cause of th' infection that caused. _

Even worse was the blood that freely seeped from the four-inch long wound in the Captain's side. He looked across Murdock's body at Dani.

_Fool'd want me ta keep 'er from worryin' over him. _

But he could see she already was.

oooooo

". . . der Seele, die nach jenen Höhn verlangt,  
vor ihrem Flug durch Nacht und Grausen bangt.  
( . . . the soul, that yearns for those heights,  
dreads to take its dark and awful flight.)

He crooned the words in his mind, thinking of a time when he took a bullet for his Colonel.

_Only thin' I was 'fraid of was my friends bein' caught by Decker. But Decker didn' get 'em. He tried t' get it outta me, where they were, but I tol' 'im all 'bout th' stewed prunes they were servin' fer lunch that day. _

He couldn't puzzle out why he was thinking of that now. Maybe he was hungry?

_No, that ain' it. Th' way I feel's so much like in th' place Hann'bal 'n' B. A. brought me. When I was tryin' t' make the Big Guy go 'way b'fore Hann'bal got back with Decker. Felt almost like I was soarin' 'bove th' clouds t' Heaven. _

He startled in his spirit as he thought about it.

_Am I dyin'? I can't. Enzinina'll get 'er if I ain' there. Dani needs me. But where are ya, darlin'? It's so dark here and I don' have th' strength. _

oooooo

As Dani knelt beside him, she repeatedly stroked his cheek and fought to control her emotions. "Don't leave me, H. M. Please don't leave me," she murmured over and over again.

B. A. knew Dani had seen many emergencies during her years as a nurse. Even though her current employment was on the same V. A. psychiatric ward as the pilot resided, she had started out as a trauma nurse in the Los Angeles County Hospital emergency center. She was not a newcomer to the sight of patients with serious injuries, including victims of knife fights.

Despite that, her hands were trembling and her blue eyes were watery with tears as she stared down at Murdock and assessed his condition. As the Sergeant watched, a tear trickled down her cheek. She held her fist against her mouth as if to hold back any more from falling but they streamed down her face one by one. It was too much for her. She gripped his hand in hers and rocked back and forth, quietly crying.

_Aw, shit. _

He drew in a breath to tell her the crazy man would be alright, that he'd seen men in a lot worse condition who had lived. Then he exhaled with a heavy sigh.

_I can't promise 'er somethin' I can't be certain about myself. An' she already knows it's bad, real bad. _

The truth was, Murdock's knife wounds looked serious, especially the one in his right side. There was too much blood. It soaked the double layer of shirts the Captain always wore and had spread to the top of his khaki pants. It showed no sign of stopping.

oooooo

He groped through the darkness as a spirit being. Dani was beside him the last he knew. He remembered hearing her voice, feeling her arms around him as B. A. loosed him from the ropes that bound him to the chair. He had to find her again.

_Where are you, darlin'? Please. Help me find ya. _

As he searched for her, the pain came back in waves. When he stayed in one place, or retreated into the darkness, the pain went away.

_Gotta make a choice. Dani or death. My Angel or pain. _

The faintest of feeling, a warm human touch, a delicate woman's hand in his and he knew she had found him.

He would have drawn her closer to him if his body and spirit weren't traveling in different dimensions.

"Da scheinest du, o lieblichster der Sterne,  
dein Sanftes Licht entsendest du der Ferne . . .  
(There you shine, o fairest of the stars,  
and shed your gentle light from afar . . . )

_Keep on shinin', Angel. Keep hold o' my hand 'r I'll lose my way 'gain. _

oooooo

B. A. was uncomfortable telling Dani to get into the van and wait for Face and him to bring Murdock to her. She wasn't one to obey orders when someone she cared deeply about was injured or in danger. But she was doing no good right now where she was.

"Dani," he growled. "Pull yerself t'gether and get ready to take 'im outta our hands when we get 'im t' the van. He needs ya ta be ready ta put pressure on that wound. An' I gotta rush 'im t' the hospital."

She frowned at him, momentarily irritated by the gruff intrusion.

"I ain' gonna tell ya again. Get in the van an' wait for us." He disliked having to order her around. She was Murdock's girlfriend and wanted only to know he would live.

_But after we get 'im to a doctor, there'll be plenty a time ta worry over him. _

Coming to her senses, she nodded and stood.

oooooo

He had lost his grip on her hand. Or had she pulled away? He felt the darkness tug at him and he was losing the strength to struggle out of its close confines.

_Dani! _

oooooo

Slowly backing away, keeping her eyes on Murdock, she bumped into Face as he approached. He grasped her shoulders to steady her and stopped, staring at his best friend's injuries.

"Faceman, get on his other side." B. A. gestured with his head. Even the Lieutenant appeared to be stunned over the amount of blood surrounding the pilot. Dani pulled out of his grasp and hurried to the van.

The Sergeant gripped Murdock's arm and propped him up against himself in a slumped sitting position. He waited for Face to snap out of the horror that was temporarily paralyzing him, resolving to singlehandedly carry the injured pilot to the van if the Lieutenant didn't move soon.

oooooo

_Dani? Angel?_

oooooo

On a rescue like this, when two of their own had been captured, the remaining team members had to share the work of four men. Face's job was to ensure Enzinina and "Big Lon" understood they had no options but to drop their weapons and comply.

He herded the Mob boss and his right hand man into the small storage room where he heard a soft moan.

"The cavalry's here, Colonel." After directing his two prisoners to turn to the wall and put their hands up, Face quickly scanned his CO for signs of serious injury.

The Colonel, his face bruised from the interrogation, opened his unswollen eye as wide as he could and gingerly grinned a welcome. "I see you got our friends to cooperate with you, Lieutenant."

Face forced "Big Lon" to untie Hannibal's wrists. He kept the gun trained on the two men while Hannibal tied them up. Before backing away, the Colonel confiscated the pistols from the shoulder holsters of the boss and his henchman and smiled.

He nudged the Lieutenant. "I told these two low lifes they shouldn't worry about their long term retirement plans."

"Yeah, well, I don't think they'll need to be concerned about food, clothing _or_ shelter for the next few years with the evidence we gave the police," Face joked as he clutched Hannibal around the waist to help him to the van.

Before Face could close the door and lock it, Enzinina smirked at them. "The next time someone comes for Miss Scalatini, she won't be so lucky. The way your friend out there looks, she'll have one less person to defend her. You'll all be very sorry you interfered."

With the door closed and locked on the Mob boss, Hannibal sagged against his Lieutenant. He dropped his false bravado and wheezed, "Just get me to the van. Then find out how badly they injured Murdock."

B. A. called from where he squatted beside the man on the warehouse floor. "Faceman! Help me get th' fool up on 'is feet! Gotta get movin'!"

Face staggered with Hannibal to the vehicle and half-lifted him into the seat on the passenger's side. Then he hurried toward B. A. and Murdock.

"Enzinina and his man are locked away, waiting for the police to come and arrest them. Hannibal was beaten up pretty badly but he doesn't seem to be injured beyond cuts and br . . . "

He bumped into Dani backing toward him and reached out to keep her from falling. Face peered toward the black Sergeant squatting by the man on the floor and paled.

_He isn't moving. And Dani looks terrified._

He stopped, his stomach wrenching inside him. Dani continued on her way to the van but he hardly noticed.

_He's lost a lot of blood. Way too much blood. Where's it all coming from? _

He stared in disbelief at the two wounds and the ever-widening dark red pool under his best friend's body.

_It wasn't supposed to be like this. Didn't Hannibal say it was going to be a piece of cake? _

Of course, Hannibal would say that when he was "on the jazz." Even that jaunty grin he gave Face when the Lieutenant entered the room where he was being kept was part of "the jazz."

_Well, this time "the jazz" may not pull Murdock out of the fire. _

As if telling a small child what to do, B. A. repeated his instruction, more urgently this time. "Faceman, get on his other side."

A huge shudder passing through his body, the Lieutenant forced himself to move into position.

_Stay with us, buddy. Just stay with us. _

oooooo

Hannibal craved a cigar as he sat in the passenger seat of the van. He heard B. A. snap at Face to help him with Murdock and felt helpless to do anything. Dani moved as if in a daze toward the vehicle.

_That knife wound must have been worse than I thought. _

One of the thugs had pulled a black hood over his head before they left for the warehouse, apparently to prevent him from identifying exactly where they were being taken. He had not had the opportunity to see Murdock between then and now.

_The way Face and Dani are acting, it has to be really bad. _

Dani stood beside him and hugged him carefully, then pulled back. She cupped his face in her hand, gently directing his eyes to hers. Now that she was no longer at Murdock's side, she focused on him.

"Can you tell if you have any internal injuries? Broken bones?" She scrutinized him as he shook his head.

"Maybe a bruised rib but nothing more serious. They seemed to be practicing on me before doing their real work on Murdock." He brushed her hand away and turned his attention back to the Sergeant and the Lieutenant. "How bad is he?"

_This is the second time he's saved my life. _

He heard her swallow and choke back a sob. "Bad."

_Damn! That's what I thought. _

He reached out to squeeze her hand. "If there had been any other way to drive Enzinina out of hiding . . . "

"It wasn't your fault, Hannibal. He went with you to meet Enzinina because he wanted to protect me."

He looked at her, saw her flinch as B. A. and Face lifted Murdock between them and staggered carrying him to the van.

"I came up with the plan."

_And not only this one but also the one that got her on the hit list to begin with. _

"If anyone's to blame, it's me. I'm the one with the contract out on my life. I'm the one who walked all those incriminating photos of Mob families in to the Chicago police. I'm a Scalatini. I have a target on me because of my name and connection. And anyone who loves me has the same target on them." Her voice was soft and insistent. Her gaze was centered on Murdock.

Hannibal gripped her by the elbow before she could turn away. Adjusting their hold on Murdock as they neared the front of the van, Face and B. A. gave them anxious glances. The pilot hung limply between them. The Colonel muttered to Dani, "Don't blame yourself and don't hurt him by walking away. He needs you. We'll talk later. Okay?"

Her eyes brimmed with tears again as she nodded and shakily got in the back seat. A few seconds later, Dani cradled Murdock's upper body in her lap and pressed a large gauze pad against the knife wound. Hannibal got Face to light a cigar for him and he listened to the blonde nurse alternate between whispering calming words to the pilot and crying over him.

oooooo

Even if she was crying, it was the sweetest sound to Murdock's ears. It meant his angel was close. She would be able to return his spirit and soul to where they belonged. Her touch would bring him back into the land of light and love.

As he felt one hand pressing into his side, he sensed the other holding and caressing his hand. He could almost taste the bitterness of the tears he heard her shedding.

Just as he thought he would go insane with the intensity of the pain in his side, he heard Billy's voice.

_Th' pain's only fer a li'l while, brother. Don' give up. She hasn't. _

He knew that was true. Dani wouldn't give up on him for as long as the stars shone brightly in the sky.

_Eternity. _

Using every technique the CIA had taught him so that he could endure pain, he fought back against death.

". . . die nächt'ge Dämmrung teilt dein lieber Strahl,  
und freundlich zeigst du den Weg aus dem Tal.  
(. . . your friendly beam penetrates the twilight gloom  
and points the way out from the valley.)"

_That's right, brother! Keep singin'. Dani's with ya. She ain' gonna leave ya. Let 'er show ya th' way back. _

It was so difficult. The darkness was inviting, painless.

"O du, mein holder Abendstern,  
wohl grüsst'ich immer dich so gern . . .  
(O my fair evening star,  
I always gladly greeted thee . . . )"

But Dani's touch focused him like nothing else could.

" . . . vom Herzen, das sie nie verriet,  
grüsse sie, wenn sie vorbei dir zieht,  
wenn sie entschwebt dem Tal der Erden . . .  
( . . . from a heart that never betrayed its faith,  
greet her when she passes,  
when she soars above this earthly valley . . . )"

He pushed his way out of the fog, forced his muscles to obey.

And opened his eyes halfway to see the beautiful face of the woman he loved. Heard her gasp with surprised joy.

"H. M.?" She squeezed his hand tighter as tears dripped from her jaw onto her shirt.

". . . ein sel'ger Engel dort zu werden!  
( . . . to become a blessed angel in Heaven!)" he whispered. "Angel, darlin'."

oooooo

"Let's go, B. A." The Colonel 's command came out quieter than usual. The Sergeant gunned the van out of the warehouse the way he had come.

"Hospital, Hannibal?" B. A. asked. He knew the answer but wanted the Colonel to confirm it.

Hannibal nodded. "Get Murdock's papers and identification ready, Lieutenant. Miss Scalatini will need them to get him in under his veteran's benefits."

He glanced back at Murdock and Dani. The VA nurse gave him a faint smile before turning her attention back to the man she loved.

_She thinks she can protect him by running away after he gets well. _

As surely as if she had said it aloud, the Colonel knew that was what he saw in that look. Hannibal promised himself he would do whatever he could to keep Daniela Scalatini from making the biggest mistake in her and Murdock's lives.


	4. Chapter 4 Opera Seria

Opera Buffa, Opera Seria

AN: This is another duet I strongly encourage you to find and listen to. "Prendi: l'anel ti dono" from Bellini's La Sonnambula (The Sleepwalker) can be found on YouTube by various artists but I recommend the version with Juan Diego Florez as Elvino.

Disclaimer: I do not own The A Team movie or television series or any of the delightful characters found on The A Team.

Part 4. Opera Seria

"I need help here! My boyfriend's been stabbed!"

Dani staggered through the emergency room doors. Her arm gripped Murdock's waist with more strength than she thought she had. His left arm stretched across her shoulders. She clutched his left wrist tightly to keep him propped against her. His feet did little more than shuffle along beside her. His eyes were squeezed shut as he let her guide him toward the desk.

Every few steps, she anxiously glanced up into his face. From his pallor and pinched expression, she knew he was close to collapse.

_I wish the guys were here. Even as thin as he is, I'm still having a hard time keeping him on his feet. _

She knew the reason they hadn't come in with them. A knife wound was bound to involve police reports and the team members could not risk being identified, especially not as good Samaritans. They didn't need the press scurrying around trying to find out the identities of the mysterious do-gooders who helped a stabbing victim to get medical help.

"Angel . . . gotta sit . . . down," he managed in a hoarse whisper.

"Just a few more steps, hon. Stay with me, H. M." She shot a piercing look at the receptionist, already giving the injured man a cursory visual assessment before calling back to the nurse's station. "Get somebody out here, stat!"

The woman behind the desk got the phone to her ear and punched in a number, keeping her eyes on the couple. Dani felt Murdock sag against her. He gasped out a "Sorry, darlin'" before his body slumped to the floor and nearly took her down with him.

"No! H. M.!" She knelt beside him, trying to scoop him into her arms. With all of her training, with all of her prior experience as a trauma nurse, it was different when the person with the life-threatening injuries was someone you loved.

Even though she knew it was senseless to panic because the call had already been made to inform the doctor and nurses of the emergency, she yelled anyway. "Someone help him! Please!"

A blur of activity surrounded them. The pilot was lifted onto a gurney and shuttled off to the inner sanctum of the emergency department. She stumbled to her feet and tried to follow but was stopped at the swinging doors.

"You'll have to stay out here, miss." A young dark-skinned nurse with oversized glasses put one hand out to hold her back from pushing her way through.

She looked beyond the nurse's shoulder at the sight of the gurney with Murdock on it being wheeled into a screened-off area to the left. A sob escaped her throat and she raised the back of her clenched fist to her mouth.

Seconds later the nurse had one hand on her forearm and an arm around her waist, leading her toward a chair within feet of the door. "Here, miss. You look like you're about ready to faint. Why don't you sit here and I'll get you some coffee while you wait."

That was two hours ago. She had filled out the necessary paperwork. She had drunk at least five cups of hospital coffee.

She sat in a chair that had worn maroon upholstery and picked absently at the small bits of nubby fabric. Placing her hand in her pocket, she rubbed her fingers across the card Face had given her with his phone number on it. Hannibal had instructed her to call as soon as she knew anything about Murdock's condition . All three men would be anxiously waiting at that location.

But there had been nothing.

_I can't abandon him now. I have to know he came out of this alright. But after he recovers . . . _

She propped an elbow on the arm of the chair and covered her face with her hand. Hot tears streamed down her cheeks.

_It's safer for him if he forgets I ever existed. _

oooooo

Murdock wished at least one of the guys could have come in the emergency room doors with Dani to help her with him. She was close to panic. He felt it through her touch, through her pleas to whoever was there when they arrived.

_She's gonna be worryin' 'bout me with no one there t' talk to. _

Panic wasn't the only thing he was sensing as she half-dragged him along beside her. What the other emotion was alarmed him. Her emotions were setting off every red flag that remained in his conscious mind. He didn't know why he felt that way but he did. Pain clouded his ability to think clearly. He had to know what she was thinking.

_Guilt? She ain' got anythin' t' feel guilty 'bout. Fear? I'm with 'er on that. She's th' only thin' kept me hangin' on. _

His mind was disconnecting from the rest of his body and he could do nothing to stop it. When the darkness overtook him, as he knew it would, Dani would be alone with her anguish.

He tried to warn her, to tell her to quicken her pace and find him somewhere to sit or lie down. The white noise was returning. The dark rabbit hole was one step away.

"Angel . . . gotta sit . . . down." He couldn't manage any more than that.

Her muffled voice contained enough encouragement for him to force his feet to move a few more steps. No more than that.

Even as his body plummeted into the darkness and he fell to the floor, he whispered an apology to her for not being stronger for her.

oooooo

She gazed vacantly into space, memories of the knife wounds, the blood and, above all, his whispered words to her in the van, occupying her thoughts. What had he said? "Ein sel'ger Engel dort zu werden! Angel, darlin'."

She wished she knew German to know what the sentence meant. The last two words required no translation. They were the words that in the past made her heart beat faster with love. They were the words that were breaking her heart now.

She would miss the tender warm brown eyes that captured her attention every time he murmured those words to her. She would miss the way he drawled them in protest when she pulled away from an embrace. She would miss his boyish grin when she said she was afraid of one of the staff seeing and confirming what most of them suspected to be true. She would miss the passion of the kiss that would follow those words.

She didn't want to give up her dream of someday being H. M.'s wife even though the possibilities of that never seemed so remote as they did right now. But she would give up her dream and her life to protect him.

oooooo

He drifted on the edges of consciousness as they administered the needle that would tranfuse AB negative blood into him. Using his remote viewing ability, he allowed his spirit body to detach and watch the nurses prepping him for surgery to determine if any organs or vessels had been damaged. From there, he willed his spirit to move to the emergency waiting room where he knew he would find Dani.

He located her, alone and in emotional distress, her tear-stained pale face partially hidden by her fisted hand. She sat in the chair nearest to the swinging doors. Every time someone came to the door, he noted how she startled out of her reverie and scanned them for any indication of news.

His heart sank as she cried. Her shaking hands barely allowed her to take sips from the styrofoam coffee cup the nurse offered her.

For a while his spirit body hovered by Dani, wanting to reach out and reassure her but unable to make her aware of his presence. The anesthesia they gave his physical body drew his spirit body back. He slept and dreamed.

oooooo

She looked up as an overweight wrinkled woman in an old-fashioned blue flowered dress hobbled toward her. Leaning heavily on a cane, she rasped, "Is that seat taken?" and pointed to the chair beside Dani.

The pensive nurse shook her head and straightened in her seat. Averting her eyes from the elderly lady's prying gaze, Dani coughed slightly and shifted her attention to the waiting room doors.

As the old woman settled herself in the worn chair, she sighed contentedly. "I don't know about you, dearie, but I hate this waiting, don't you?"

Something about the voice was familiar and the nurse peered at the woman more closely. A sob caught in her throat and she whispered, "Hannibal? Oh God, I'm so glad you're here."

Hannibal reached over and took her hand in his. Serious icy blue eyes solemnly scrutinized her. "We need to talk, Miss Scalatini, before he wakes up."

oooooo

_He sat with Dani on the bench in the small dense grove of trees outside the V. A. hospital. It had become one of the places they used most often to talk about things they could not allow anyone else to hear. It was there they could share some intimate moments without being detected so easily. _

_She was so beautiful right now. He sensed this was the perfect moment to ask her. A light breeze stirred the wisps of blonde hair at her throat. The dappled sunlight played across the light skin of her face. _

_Her curious eyes searched his as he reached inside the pocket of his bomber jacket and pulled out a small velvet box. Dani's hands rested in her lap and she nervously bit her bottom lip as she gazed at the gift he offered her. He reached out to take her hand. Placing the box in the palm of her hand, he gently curled her fingers around it. She looked down at the box and hesitated._

"_Take it. Open it." He smiled at her and commanded the fluttering butterflies in his stomach to stop making him queasy. Why he was thinking of Bellini's La Sonnambula at this moment, he did not know. It seemed the most romantic way to propose, he guessed._

"_Prendi: l'anel ti dono. (Here: receive this ring.)"_

_She gasped as she opened the box. "H. M.! It's beautiful! But it must have been expensive." _

_He looked at her with loving eyes and caressed her cheek with his fingertips. "It was my mother's. When she divorced my father, she told me she wanted me to use it someday to marry the girl of my dreams and make that girl happy. She wanted me to be the husband my father never was. I didn't understand back then but I do now."_

_He continued with the song. After all, in a dream you could sing your proposal, couldn't you? _

"_Che un dì recava all'ara . . . (that the beloved spirit . . .)  
. . . L'alma beata e cara (. . . who smiled upon our love . . .)  
Che arride al nostro amor. (. . . wore at the altar.)"_

_His mother was dead, had been dead since he was five years old, but he knew she would have approved of Dani. He hoped she approved of the man he had become. Gramma and Grampa had done a fine job of instilling good character in him. God, he missed them. For a moment, his voice faltered._

"_W-would you like me t' do that?" He swallowed as she nodded and held her hand out to him. Fumbling the ring out of the soft white lining, he carefully slipped the engagement ring on her finger. He looked up into her eyes and sang the next lines._

"_Sacro ti sia tal dono . . . (Let this gift be sacred . . .)  
. . . Come fu sacro a lei; (. . . as it was to her;)  
Sia de' tuoi voti e miei (let it always be)  
Fido custode ognor. (witness of our trust.)"_

_He could almost hear a chorus of angels as they watched the action. The ring fit perfectly and sparkled as he held her hand to his lips and kissed her fingertips._

_The angelic chorus sang, "Scritti nel ciel già sono, (Your vows are sealed in Heaven)  
Come nel vostro cor. (As they are in your hearts.)_

_He drew her close to himself, nuzzling her neck, affirming his intention to marry her. _

_"Sposi or noi siamo. (Now we are betrothed.)" _

_She didn't sing the response Amina was supposed to sing at this point but her arms around his waist told him what the words meant to her._

_As she held up her hand to admire the ring, Murdock spied a clump of violets under one of the trees. Standing and quickly moving to it, he plucked a single blossom. He presented it to her with a flourish and a lingering kiss on her lips._

"_Cara! nel sen ti posi . . . (Beloved! Upon your heart . . . )  
Questa gentil viola. (Let this violet stay.)"_

_She touched the delicate petals with one finger and wove it into the top open buttonhole of her white uniform sweater. _

_"Ei mi rammenti a te. (May it remind you of me.)"_

_She rose to her feet and slipped her arms around his waist. "I'll love you forever, H. M." _

_Looking down into her blue eyes, he knew she was the woman his mother had told him about all those years ago. _

_He tightened his hold around her and finished his song._

_"Cara! (Beloved!)  
Dal dì che univa . . . (Ever since the day . . . )  
. . . I nostri cori un Dio, (. . . that God joined our hearts)  
. . . Con te rimase il mio, (. . . mine has stayed with you)  
. . . Il tuo con me restò. (. . . and yours has not left me.)" _

oooooo

"He loves you, Miss Scalatini. He's _loyal_ to us. Like he always says, you have to stay with your unit. But he _loves_ you." Hannibal waited, letting his words sink in, hoping the young woman beside him would listen to reason.

"As long as he's with me, he is in as much danger as I am. Mob allegiances are just as tight as your team loyalties, Hannibal. Vengeance is visited upon not only the person who went against them but also against the ones they love. You saw that today." She ran her finger along the arm of the chair, not trusting herself to look into the Colonel's eyes.

"Danger? Has he told you about most of our missions?" Hannibal chuckled. He desperately wanted a cigar so he could think of how to convince Dani not to run away. Somehow he knew an elderly woman lighting up in the middle of the emergency room would attract more attention than it was worth.

"It's different, Hannibal. To get at me, they'll use him. It won't stop. They won't ever give up." She dared a glance at him.

He seemed to be deep in thought. He startled her when he spoke. "You weren't on duty when the bounty hunter sent his sons to kidnap Murdock from the hospital?"

"I heard about it but I wasn't there."

"Why do you think they did that?"

Her eyes widened a little but she said nothing. No, she hadn't heard the rest of the story.

"You see, Miss Scalatini, our line of work puts us in danger all the time. At any time, one of us could be used as a lure to capture and either arrest or kill the rest of us. And we _have_ run up against the Mob before. Do the names Gianni Christian, Crazy Tommy T, or a Mob boss that goes by the last name of Carlin mean anything to you?" He watched for her reaction and was satisfied when she flinched at the names.

"So you see, Miss Scalatini, we're already targets of the Mob and every low life that we've helped to put away over the years. Living in the V. A. hospital doesn't protect him if any of them want him or us bad enough. Your situation adds very little to what we're already facing every day."

She fully turned to him as the double doors opened. A nurse looked around as if looking for someone.

"I know Murdock. He loves you. If you run away from him, he'll be hurting worse than if you stabbed him yourself. He'll take more risks and maybe even endanger the rest of his team because he won't care anymore." Dani's eyes were filling with tears but Hannibal wanted to know for certain she wouldn't bolt as soon as Murdock was on his feet again.

"Are you here for Mark McKillian?" The dark-skinned nurse stood in front of them.

"Yes," Dani and Hannibal both said.

The emergency room nurse pursed her lips as she scanned Hannibal. "And you are?"

"This is his grandmother. I called her to let her know." Dani got to her feet. "Can we see him?" She bent down and put out her arm to "help" Hannibal up from the chair.

"He isn't completely awake from surgery. He's been making sounds like he's singing in his sleep. He isn't forming any words clearly but it sounds a little like opera." The nurse said the last words as if she wasn't sure they would believe her.

Hannibal smirked."That's my sonny boy. Now can we see him?"

oooooo

Murdock was in the hospital for a full week following the surgery to repair the two knife wounds and a nick made to his liver. Dani remained by his side. She could tell from his meditative mood and the thoughtful looks he gave her when he thought she wasn't looking that he was deciding something in his mind.

The day he was released into his "grandmother's" care, Dani disappeared. He noticed the worried glances Hannibal and Face directed his way just outside the hospital entrance and knew something was wrong. When B. A. opened the side door to the van, he was kinder than usual and that was all wrong, too.

Murdock glanced inside and sighed when he noted that Dani had not accompanied them to the hospital. "Let's get outta this dump," he mumbled to B. A. as the Sergeant helped him negotiate the step up into the vehicle.

Easing himself into the van seat, he winced from the slight pull in the stitches. Staring at the back of the van seat in glassy-eyed silence, he fell into a quiet mood none of them wanted to interrupt. They all knew he wasn't really seeing anything around him. None of them spoke much on the drive to the beach house Face was currently occupying.

As Face ran ahead to open the door to the bungalow, Hannibal squinted back at the stricken pilot. "I tried my best, Captain. Until today I thought I had convinced her."

Murdock nodded bitterly and moved over in the seat to lower himself out of the van. "Hannibal, 'ts alright. Ya couldn't change her thinkin'." He gave the Colonel a wistful smile. "Not even I know how t' do that."

B. A. and Hannibal watched as he slowly and painfully made his way up the steps to the door of the bungalow, a tragic figure in a faded bomber jacket and khaki pants, disappointment and despair evident in every movement.

"We go lookin' for her, Hannibal?"

"We go looking for her, B. A." The Colonel stared out the window of the van as the Sergeant backed the van up and started the return trip to the V. A. hospital to track down the whereabouts of the nurse.


	5. Chapter 5 Romantische Oper

Opera Buffa, Opera Seria

AN: I didn't intend for this to become the series it is. This is also a long chapter but it felt to me like it had to be to reach a good resolution. I am inclined to leave this as the final chapter of the "Opera" story unless anyone wants more.

The two operatic arias Murdock sings are: Don Giovanni's aria "Deh, vieni alla finestra" from Act 2, Scene 1, of Mozart's opera of the same name; and Hoffmann's aria "Ô Dieu! de quelle ivresse" from Act 2 of Jacques Offenbach's opera "Les Contes d'Hoffmann" (The Tales of Hoffmann). You can hear both of these arias on YouTube. The version of "Don Giovanni" with Peter Mattei is very good. As far as Hoffmann's aria, I have no favorites. For purists, I have used both tenor and baritone arias in this series. If there is no orchestra backing the voice, a baritone can just as easily lower a tenor part and sing it.

Disclaimer: I do not own The A Team movie or television series or any of the delightful characters found on The A Team.

Part 5. Romantische Oper

"We found her." B. A. growled those three words and stopped short in the doorway of the living room of the beach house. He cast a frown back at the Colonel before letting the older man proceed him through the door.

_Way the fool looks, Hann'bal better handle it. I'm likely ta put my fist through a wall, the hurt I see him in. An' it's bound ta get worse once he knows. _

B. A. knew there had been no change in the pilot's demeanor since they watched him painfully trudge up the steps and into the house. Now Hannibal knew it, too.

Murdock lay on his back on the sofa, staring moodily up at the white plaster ceiling. A bright multicolored crocheted afghan covered him from his feet to mid-chest. His left forearm was slung across his forehead. Dangling his right arm over the edge of the couch, he ran his fingers absently over the contours of the head of a dog that was not there.

The pain medication he had been sent home with was on the end table along with a glass of water. B. A. couldn't tell if either had been touched. The whiskey bottle beside the glass had been.

If either man expected some kind of reaction to the Sergeant's announcement, Murdock disappointed them. There had been no movement from the figure on the couch except a brief slowing of the petting motion at the three words B. A. spoke. With a barely audible sigh, the pilot resumed stroking the imaginary dog's head.

_Ain' right we went ta all the trouble of trackin' Dani down an' he don' ask 'bout her. Maybe he don' wanna know, but if he loves 'er he should at least ask. _

"Well, sucka? Ya wanna know where we found 'er or don'tcha?" B. A. pushed forward until he stood, hands clenching and unclenching to the right of the pilot's view.

The brown eyes shifted his direction but the feelings behind the look were difficult to read. For a moment, the Sergeant was unsure what to say or do. The pilot's expression was a confused tangle of emotions. Then he turned his gaze back to the ceiling without saying a word.

"Where's Face, Captain?" Hannibal barely caught the small shrug Murdock gave in response.

"He left ya 'lone here?" B. A.'s voice was a rumble of disbelief and anger.

Another shrug was accompanied by a grimace as the pilot readjusted himself on the couch.

"Ya know ya shouldn' mix whiskey 'n' painkillers. Whatcha tryin' ta do? Kill yerself?" B. A. seized the capped liquor bottle from the table with the intention of emptying it down the kitchen sink.

Before he could move any further with it, Murdock gripped his wrist with one hand and the bottle with the other. He snarled, "Leave it!"

Catching Hannibal's nod, B. A. released his hold. In a gesture uncharacteristic to the black man, he held both hands up chest high and backed away but only to the foot of the couch. Murdock hugged the bottle to himself and turned onto his left side, his back to the room and the Colonel.

"Where's your firearm, Captain?" Hannibal's voice was full of authority as he grasped the pilot's shoulder and pushed him onto his back again.

"Ain' got it. Don'tcha think ah woulda used it if ah 'membered what ah did with it? If yer so worried 'bout it, go look out in th' van." Murdock's slurred drawl worried the Sergeant. The pilot glared up into Hannibal's eyes. Twisting away from the Colonel's hold, he turned again onto his side.

B. A. knew what Hannibal wanted him to do even before he said it. He was on his way out the door to the parked vehicle seconds later. Murdock's Browning was not in the van's storage locker.

_Did the crazy man lie ta us? Maybe he's got it hid so he can use it later when we ain' 'round. He wouldn't really do that, would he? _

Looking down toward the beach, he was relieved to see the familiar figure of the Lieutenant pacing with a determined air toward the bungalow. He looked upset.

It figured Murdock would drive Face from the small house so he could have some privacy while he drank away his anger and sorrow. B. A. scowled, thinking of how much internal pain the man was suffering to do that.

_B'tween the Faceman and the Colonel, they should be able ta get the fool to the point of listenin'. _

At least he hoped they could. He rarely saw the pilot in such a depressed state.

While the other two men kept Murdock busy, B. A. pressed hard to find the handgun. After they told the Captain why Dani had not come to the hospital when he was released, he was positive the safest place for the weapon to be would be under lock and key.

oooooo

Face turned bitter eyes on his friend as he stormed into the living room. "You know, I don't care what you have to say to me anymore, buddy. You can insult me, yell at me, whatever." He approached the couch and spoke to the pilot's back. "All I said was there might be a good reason why Dani didn't show up to go with us to the hospital today to get you."

The Captain mumbled into the couch cushion. "Wasn' no good reason 't all."

Hannibal spoke in a quiet voice from the armchair where he sat waiting for B. A. to report. "Yes, there was."

The Lieutenant noticed the pilot's muscles tense as the words registered. Murdock turned and slowly pushed himself into a sitting position on the couch. In confusion he stared at the older man.

"What poss'ble reason'd she have 'cept t' dump me? I know she's been 'fraid she's gonna get me killed. Well, I could say th' same. We don' 'zactly play 'round with choir boys." The pilot became more agitated, throwing the afghan to the side.

He staggered to his feet, sucking in a sharp breath and clutching his side as the stitches pulled. Growling under his breath, he paced the length of the room, slightly swaying as he did.

"Faceman!" B. A. gestured to him from the doorway. "Gotta ask ya somethin'."

The Sergeant cast an uneasy glance at Hannibal and shook his head to his unspoken question when he thought the pilot wasn't looking.

"Outside," he muttered as the Lieutenant drew closer.

As soon as they were standing with the closed door between themselves and the two men in the beach house, Face ran one hand over his hair. "So where'd you guys take off to after you dropped us off?"

"Went ta see if anyone at the VA knew anythin' 'bout where Dani went to. Look, ya know any special hidin' place the fool has for his gun?"

Face thought for a few moments, rubbing his hand along his jaw. "Bogey, his teddy bear, has a secret compartment. You might try there. Why? You don't think he'd do something to himself, do you?"

B. A. frowned at him in response. "Look, man. First, I get his gun an' lock it 'way. Then we all three of us sit down with 'im an' talk things out."

Before Face could ask anything more, B. A. went back inside. Moments later he left the beach house by the ocean-side exit and went to the locker in the back of the van. Placing a gun in it, he relocked the box and came back to the house.

"Now we can go in an' get this all hashed out with him." The Sergeant held the door open for the conman.

"I don't even know what you and Hannibal have to tell him," Face sniffed resentfully.

As they entered the living room, Murdock sullenly turned to face them. They tried to disregard his white-knuckled fists and the bitter tears that were spilling uncontrolled down his cheeks.

"Come sit down, Captain. We need to talk," Hannibal murmured as he stood and took the pilot by the elbow to lead him back to the couch. B. A. sat on one side of Murdock and Face sat on the other while the Colonel resumed his seat in the overstuffed armchair. Both men felt the trembling fury inside their friend as he waited for someone to speak.

Drawing in a deep breath, Hannibal began. "What do you know about a patient on your floor that goes by the name of Chuck Lazarby?"

Murdock anxiously looked in wide-eyed terror from Hannibal to B. A. and back again. There was no mistaking the threat Lazarby must be to the others on the ward. Both of them noticed his face pale at the mention of the name. His voice was a low apprehensive croak. "Why?"

The Colonel leveled his serious gaze on the pilot. "He's the reason you didn't see her earlier."

oooooo

While Hannibal tried to use the gentlest way to tell Murdock what Lazarby had done to Dani during her shift the previous evening, they could not prevent him from reacting violently.

The pilot got to his feet, took the whiskey bottle and threw it at the opposite wall as hard as he could. It shattered and the liquid splashed down the paneling and onto the wood floor. That was followed by the bottle of pills which came uncapped and spilled its contents across the puddle of whiskey.

Face winced at the mess he was going to have to clean up, all the while watching out in case the Captain decided to launch into one of them in his blind rage.

"He ain' gonna get 'way with this. Ah ain' gonna let 'im. He's a dead man. He's a dead man . . . " Murdock rambled, hunching his shoulders and clenching his fists while he decided how best to avenge what was done to Dani.

He staggered into the bedroom he used while checked out of the VA hospital. A few moments later he stomped back out, carrying his stuffed bear. Going nose to nose with B. A., he screamed at him, "Where the hell d'ya put it? Where is it?" He shook the bear violently in the Sergeant's face and threw Bogey onto the floor.

It took everything the three men could muster to calm Murdock down. Face took his left arm and B. A. grabbed his right as they forced him backwards until they had him pinned against the wall.

"You aren't going to solve anything by going after him, Captain. Doctor Richter is fast-tracking the papers needed to send him to a maximum security psychiatric facility. He won't touch her or anyone else again." Hannibal had both hands on the pilot's shoulders. He tried to enforce eye contact, knowing Murdock wasn't seeing anything but what his imagination was conjuring up about Lazarby's attack on Dani.

"I gotta see 'er," he muttered, wildly peering around the room to locate his bomber jacket and cap. "I gotta know how bad he hurt 'er."

"No, you don't. Trust us. He didn't violate her and she didn't need to stay in the hospital. She's shaken, bruised and scratched up but otherwise okay." Hannibal attempted to make his voice soothing but he wasn't as good as Face was at it and he knew it.

"Ah don' b'lieve you. She needs me." The Colonel dodged the kick the pilot sent his way. Murdock held back a gasp as pain shot through his right knee where Big Lon had carved into it. Helpless, he snarled at the two men restraining him and wrestled against their hold.

"She don't wanna see you right now, fool. She knew ya was gonna act like this an' she's hurtin' bad 'nough. She don' wanna hafta keep you from goin' ballistic an' doin' somethin' stupid." B. A. growled out the words as he fought to keep Murdock from slipping out of his hands.

When he heard that, all of the struggle seemed to drain from Murdock and he sagged between them. "She said that?" he whispered hoarsely.

"A little nicer than that and with more tears, but yes. It's only for a couple of days. She'll call us if she needs anything but for right now, she wants some time to rest and mend." Hannibal watched to see what effect his words would have.

Murdock stared numbly at his CO before nodding his understanding. After Face and B. A. released him, he trudged back to the couch. Lying down on his left side again, he covered himself from head to toe with the multicolored afghan, hiding his face from view in its folds.

oooooo

The next day when Dani called to ask about Murdock, he refused to talk to her.

The day after that, Dani called again and Face insisted the pilot answer the phone. He took his cup of coffee out on the deck while the Captain talked for over an hour to the nurse.

To the Lieutenant, it seemed like his friend had come to his senses, like maybe he missed Dani more than he was willing to admit. When Face came back into the beach house, Murdock was restless with nervous energy.

"I wanna go see 'er. Couldja drive me there, Faceman? Please?" The pilot gripped the lapels of the conman's suit jacket when he didn't give an immediate response. "Pretty please with marshmallows on top?"

"I think that's sprinkles on top, but yeah. Sure. I can do that." Face saw Murdock remove a small velvet-covered box from his bomber jacket and smile at it before popping it back in the pocket. "That isn't what I think it is, is it?"

His friend turned gleeful eyes on him. "Don' know. Whaddya think it is?"

Face shuddered slightly. "Well, I'm not intimately acquainted with the practice but are you going to propose to her? Is that a ring?"

Murdock nodded, a huge lopsided grin in place. "It was my Ma's ring. I had a dream in th' hospital 'n' this seems like somethin' I'm s'posed t' do b'fore Dani 'n' I go any further."

"If you want to take her out so you can propose, you can have the keys to the Vette, you know."

The Captain shook his head vigorously. "No. I got somethin' planned. I'm gonna want ya t' wait for me 'til I'm sure she'll let me in. I mean, I've been kind of a rat 'n' she might not."

Face gave him a skeptical puzzled look but took out his keys and led the way to the car.

oooooo

In about forty-five minutes, the conman and his best friend were stationed across the street from Dani's apartment on Kelton Avenue in Westwood. Face glanced at Murdock and sighed in exasperation.

The pilot had remained fairly quiet throughout the trip to the building. Once in a while his hand slipped to the box in his pocket or he rearranged the bouquet of daisies and red roses they had purchased at the florist's shop. Whenever he did, he chuckled softly to himself and returned to dreamily staring out of his side of the car.

Face was surprised Murdock insisted on buying real flowers. He had said at one time that silk or plastic flowers were cheap and tacky and real flowers died too soon. Evidently he believed this occasion called for something special.

And why Murdock insisted on wearing his tuxedo T-shirt and navy blue suit jacket when the two of them were going to stay at the apartment and talk was beyond him. If he was Murdock, he would have chosen to take her to Serensetti's to say the words, if they had to be said at all.

The conman shuddered again and reminded himself that Murdock was different and Dani was special. The two of them were good together. The married life would suit them fine. It just wasn't the type of life he would choose for himself.

He watched as his friend strode around to the fire escape under Dani's window. As soon as he heard the first strains of the Italian opera, he swallowed and hoped no one would call the police on either of them.

_Oh God, please let Dani be home and willing to allow him in to see her. And soon. _

oooooo

Murdock positioned himself close to the privacy hedge below Dani's window and gulped in a quick breath of air to encourage himself. His hands were sweaty as he held the flowers waist level and looked up.

_Hope you were right, Billy, 'n' Dani comes t' th' window quick b'fore her neighbors call the cops on me for disturbin' th' peace. _

Of course he wasn't a playboy like the Don Giovanni of Mozart's opera but the aria he selected had the words he wanted to tell her even if she wouldn't understand the Italian lyrics. Another deeper breath and he began.

"Deh, vieni alla finestra, o mio tesoro; (O come to the window, beloved;)  
Deh, vieni a consolar il pianto mio. (O come and dispel all my sorrow!)  
Se neghi a me di dar qualche ristoro, (If you refuse me some solace,)  
Davanti agli occhi tuoi morir vogl'io! (before your dear eyes I will die.)"

Her second story window opened and she leaned out. Even from that distance, Murdock saw the bruising around both eyes and the swelling along her jaw. He was shocked at first at how brutal the attack must have been. His grip tightened around the stems of the flowers in his hands.

_If I hadn' promised Face 'n' Hann'bal I'd be good 'n' not make Lazarby inta mincemeat . . . _

He refocused on her as she called down to him. "H. M.! What do you think you're doing?"

"Serenadin' ya, darlin' angel o' mine." He grinned and sang the next lines, keeping his eyes on her.

"Tu ch'hai la bocca dolce più del miele, (Your lips are sweeter than honey,)  
Tu che il zucchero porti in mezzo al core: (your heart is sweetness itself:)  
Non esser, gioia mia, con me crudele, (then be not cruel, my angel,)  
Lasciati almen veder, mio bell'amore! (I beg for one glance, my beloved!)"

"H. M.!" Her tone became almost desperate. "Someone might call the police."

"For singin' t' ya that yer lips're sweeter than honey, 'long with yer heart? For askin' my angel to take 'way all my sorrow from being 'way from 'er fer three whole days?" His eyes twinkled with amusement as he saw her blush. "Wanna hear more?"

She shook her head at him. "You'd better come on up."

He took the fire escape steps two at a time and stopped short when she groaned in mock exasperation at his eagerness. "I meant come on up by way of the front entrance."

She backed away from the window to let him climb through and then closed it behind him. Her blue eyes immediately went to the bouquet in his hand.

"For you, angel darlin'." He presented it to her with a small bow and a flourish. He followed her into the kitchen where she removed a cream ceramic vase from the cupboard, filled it with water and arranged the flowers into it.

She savored the scent of the roses for a moment, then admired the simplicity of the daisies. Smiling up into his brown eyes, she murmured, "You remembered I liked daisies. And these roses! These are so beautiful, H. M."

As soon as she placed the vase on the kitchen countertop, he snaked his arms around her waist and drew her into an embrace. "Oh God, I missed ya, Dani." He breathed in the scent of her hair and slowly swayed back and forth with her.

Pulling back, he carefully examined her jaw where the patient had punched her. One side of her mouth was bruised as well. He traced the injuries with his fingertip and gently kissed them. She closed her eyes and he kissed them as well.

"Better?" he murmured into her ear.

"Better," she whispered.

After several seconds of holding her, he gingerly brushed her lips with his in a tentative kiss. "Does that hurt when I do that? Much 's I wanna do that a whole lot more, if it hurts, ya gotta tell me 'n' I'll stop." He searched her eyes for any hint of discomfort.

She returned the kiss, then whispered against his cheek, "It hurts a little but it's worth it."

Impulsively he pulled away with a lopsided smile and took her hand to lead her to the couch. Once she settled onto the cushions he sat facing her.

"I got 'nother song I can sing t' ya. I'll translate as I go, okay? And then I have somethin' I gotta ask you." Her eyes sparkled with such love that he almost forgot to breathe. Even with the bruising, she was truly the most beautiful woman in the world to him.

"Here goes." He felt his cheeks blaze with a suddenly shy blush. Did he even know if she liked opera?

_She must. She's heard me sing it b'fore on th' ward. _

He reached out to take both of her hands and saw the two fingernails she had torn fighting off her attacker. The backs of both hands were black and blue with broken blood vessels beneath the skin. He kissed her hands one at a time and sang to her softly.

"'Ô Dieu! de quelle ivresse  
Embrases tu mon âme!  
Comme un concert divin  
Ta voix m'a pénétré!'  
Roughly translated that means 'O God, with what intoxication you fill my soul! Like a divine concert, your voice has entered me.'"

Her intent gaze almost made him falter but he continued.

"'D'un feu doux et brûlant  
Mon être est dévoré;  
Tes regards  
Dans les miens ont épanché leur flamme,  
Comme des astres radieux.'"

For a second he forgot to translate. He felt like he was losing himself in the depths of her blue eyes. "What does it mean, H. M.?" she gently prompted.

"'With a sweet, brilliant fire my being is devoured; your glance has poured its fire into mine like radiant stars.' Dani." He hesitated to sing any more. The last of the aria was so intimate he couldn't trust himself not to make it reality for the rest of the day and into the evening.

"What, H. M.?" Her words were a soft whisper as if she knew what he was feeling because she was feeling it, too.

"I love you." The three words were so inadequate to describe how precious she was to him.

"I love you, too."

He gulped and closed his eyes so he could finish the aria without losing control.

"'Et je sens, ô ma bienaimée,  
Passer ton haleine embaumée  
Sur mes lèvres et sur mes yeux.'"

When he opened his eyes again, he found she had closed hers and had a faint smile on her lips as if she were waiting for a kiss. Caressing her cheek with his fingertips, he crooned, "'And I feel, my beloved your sweet-scented breath pass over my lips and my eyes'" and leaned in to skim the surface of her face with light kisses.

She caught her breath and murmured, "I never knew opera could be so beautiful, H. M."

"And now, Angel, darlin', I gotta have your attention." Reluctantly he pulled away from her and reached into his jacket pocket. Like in his dream he opened her hand and carefully curled her fingers around the velvet-covered box. "I can't kneel on th' floor 'cause o' my knee but I gotta ask ya somethin'."

She stared down at the small box and then into his eyes. Her lips parted slightly in a surprised silent "Oh!"

"Open it, darlin'."

He waited until she removed the ring from its place before he spoke again.

"This ring was my Ma's weddin' ring. She wanted me t' put it on the finger o' the gal I knew was the right one." Suddenly he was afraid to ask the question, afraid of the answer.

She waited, her eyes beginning to shine with tears. As the seconds passed, he noted her starting to gnaw on her lower lip, always a sign she was worried.

_I gotta say somethin'. I can't lose 'er now. _

With one more heavy swallow, he blurted it out. "Daniela Scalatini, will you marry me?"

She gasped and took a short breath. "Yes," she whispered, trembling as she nodded her consent. Holding her left hand, he slid the gold and diamond band onto her finger.

He leaned in to kiss her as the phone rang. Fumbling for it, he let the receiver rest on the table top and only faintly heard Face's voice on the other end.

"Everything alright, buddy? Am I free to go?"

But Murdock and Dani were too caught up in the moment to respond.


	6. Chapter 6 Heroic Opera

Opera Buffa, Opera Seria

AN: This is the last opera piece and it is meant to bookend the middle four chapters. I hope you enjoy it. Look up Richard Wagner's "The Ride of the Valkyries" on You Tube. You can either watch the "Apocalypse Now" version or the opera itself. I recommend the movie version and the New York Metropolitan Opera version as it appeared on Deutsche Grammophon.

Disclaimer: I do not own The A Team movie or television series or any of the delightful characters found on The A Team.

Part 6. Heroic Opera

_Pa-ping! _

Another bullet struck metal framing and ricocheted.

Pinned down behind an overturned school minibus, Face and Hannibal continued to fire. Their opponents were a small group of terrorists who had stationed themselves behind boulders and trees lining the country road. To their left, ahead of the bus and blasted into the pavement was a crater three yards in diameter. It was the means the armed men used to force the bus into the ditch where it landed on its side.

"Remind me again why it was a good idea to send Murdock with our only means of escape back to town to get help." Face glared at his CO before firing another round. His shot made one of the camouflaged men duck back behind a rock for cover.

Hannibal shook his head and moved his lit cigar to the side of his mouth. His eyes had an almost manic cheerfulness to them as he answered. "Now, Face. What part of this don't you like? We kept those schoolkids from being kidnapped and held for ransom, Murdock's getting them to a place that's safer than this and the bad guys aren't going anywhere but jail if he gets back here soon. What's not to like, kid?"

The smirk on his face caused his Lieutenant to groan. "Maybe getting killed by these guys? Being arrested along with them by whoever Murdock brings back here?"

B. A. crouched beside Hannibal and scowled at the con man. "Colonel's right. When we found out they was gonna do this, we had ta stop 'em. Wasn't time ta tell anybody what was goin' on. We saved those kids, didn't we?"

"Any signs of Murdock or the cops, B. A.?" Hannibal asked even though he knew it would have taken the pilot time to drive the black van full of six frightened kids and one injured driver back to the nearest town.

The Sergeant shook his head and took aim at one of the armed men edging his way from tree to tree to their right. His shot splintered tree bark inches above the terrorist's head and forced him to hunker down. "Fool better make sure he don't do nothin' ta my ride."

Hannibal and Face exchanged amused glances. They both knew B. A. was more concerned that Murdock and those in his charge were not detained by these terrorists than he was about what happened to his van.

The amount of gunfire from the opposite side of the road escalated. Hannibal gritted his teeth. "They're laying down fire so they can flank us. Face, cover the left. B. A., you've got the right."

"Good thing is, to cross the road, they're gonna hafta be in the open. Bad thing is I ain' got any more than one more clip and then I'm out, Hannibal." The Sergeant kept his pistol trained on the road to his right.

"Same here. Now what were you saying about this being a good idea, Colonel?" Face muttered as he watched the left flank of their position.

Minutes passed. "Down to my last clip, Hannibal." Face cast a worried look at the older man. "Time for Plan B?"

"I'm working on it." He took a deep puff from the cigar he was half-smoking, half-chewing and squinted at the con man. "Just keep them from breaching the road, Lieutenant. I don't intend on surrendering until it can't be helped." Hannibal stole a quick look at his wrist watch. "Murdock's been gone for about a half hour."

"That ain' enough time ta explain anythin' ta the cops. I don't know, Hannibal. Fool can't possibly get back here in time 'less he flies." B. A. removed the cartridge from his pistol and replaced it. He shook his head. "There's the last of it."

The Colonel glanced at both of his men. "Don't fire unless you see them make a move. Hold out on your ammo as long as you can."

They could see the terrorists more clearly now. As their own volleys decreased, the armed men on the other side of the road became bolder. Five minutes later one of the men was in position to dart across and try to approach them from behind.

Face grimaced as he aimed and heard a _click_. "I'm out." He quickly changed places with the Colonel and sat with his back to the undercarriage of the bus. "How's that plan coming, Hannibal?"

Hannibal squinted and fired. "Hate to tell you this, kid . . ."

Face sighed in exasperation. "But you're still working on it."

"Shhh." The Colonel put a gloved finger to his lips and tilted his head toward the sky. "Listen!"

From somewhere in the distance came a rhythmic _thump-thump. _

"That's a police chopper," B. A. said, a puzzled frown wrinkling his forehead as soon as the aircraft came into view. A new sound started, that of orchestral strings playing a series of ascending four-note runs ending in trills.

The dramatic music grew in volume even as the helicopter drew closer. Brass instruments joined the strings in the warlike strains being broadcast over the public address loudspeaker mounted on the underside.

"What in the world?" Face stared at the approaching aircraft.

"We aren't the only ones wondering that, Lieutenant. Look." Hannibal gestured at the terrorists who peered into the sky from their hiding places. He grinned and flicked ash from his cigar during the lull in the action.

After almost a minute and a half of orchestral music a baritone voice joined a soprano in singing, "Hoyotoho! Hoyotoho! Heiaha! Heiaha!" The soprano's song soared with a high note. They all heard the baritone try but fail to reach the note. He coughed, then cursed. "Aw hell!"

From the pilot's open door, a small canister of some kind dropped, trailing orange smoke. It fell to the ditch across the road from the team and immediately began to create a kind of foggy haze that hid the combatants from each other. A second one dropped and with it came a jubilant "Yahoooo!" blending in with singing women and orchestral strains. This canister emitted red smoke and covered even more area. The terrorists fired a few shots into the air but seemed unable to locate exactly where the helicopter was among all the ground-level smoke.

B. A. shook his head and muttered to no one in particular, "The man's crazy."

"But effective," Hannibal added, placing one hand on the black man's shoulder.

Sirens wailed in the distance.

"I believe that's our cue to get out of here." The Colonel grinned.

"I ain' goin' up in the air, Hannibal." B. A. scowled at the white-haired leader and clenched his hands into fists.

As the chopper passed overhead and circled, an excited "yi-yi-yi-yi-yi" drifted down to them.

"I do believe he's having fun with this." The Colonel squinted up at the chopper to get a glimpse of Murdock but couldn't clearly see through the drifting smoke.

"I said I ain' goin' up in the air." B. A. followed Hannibal's gaze and grimaced as another "yahooo" sounded from above.

The pilot dropped another two canisters of blue and green before hovering over the minibus and lowering a rung ladder. The music over the loudspeaker was building to a dramatic conclusion.

"I ain' gonna keep this sweet li'l lady waitin' all day for you guys t' get on up here," the pilot yelled. "Tell th' ugly mudsucker if he don' wanna ride with th' rest o' ya, he can hang on t' th' ladder. But . . . we . . . hafta . . . go . . . now!" Murdock emphasized each word of the last sentence. The urgency in his voice prompted Face to scramble up the rungs to the chopper.

"Sergeant. As your commanding officer, I'm ordering you up that ladder." The flashing lights were coming closer. "Now, B. A.!"

The black man climbed up four rungs and Hannibal stepped up behind him. Within seconds Murdock had the chopper up in the sky and high enough above the trees so that Hannibal and B. A. would not be injured.

"Start climbing, Sergeant. I'm not going to hang here all day." Hannibal sharpened his tone. It was the only way he knew to get through to the petrified man.

Little by little, B. A. crept up the ladder and finally heaved himself onto the floor just as the music reached its climax. Hannibal moved past him and close to the pilot's seat.

With a sigh, Murdock shut off the cassette player he had placed close to the loudspeaker microphone. "Nothin' like a li'l Wagner t' make an escape by. Been in contact with th' owners o' this li'l birdie 'n' they kinda want it back." The pilot adjusted his headset and gave the Colonel a lopsided grin. "Well, actually they wanna get hol' o' _me_ 'n' let me stay in their jail courtesy o' th' county." He shrugged.

"I bet." Hannibal smirked around his cigar. "By the way, Captain. Nice choice of music."

"Oh, it wasn' somethin' I came up with, Colonel. Ya ever see that movie 'Apocalypse Now'?"

Face frowned. He wasn't sure where this topic was headed. He had heard of the movie and had personally decided not to see it. "What are they doing letting you see that movie in the VA hospital?"

"Oh, they didn'. They wouldn'. I went 'n' saw it on my own. Snuck out one night back in 79 jus' 'cause I heard so much 'bout it." Murdock's expression grew more serious. "Wouldn' recommend it. Had a couple weeks o' nightmares 'n' flashbacks 'cause of it."

The three men were silent for a few minutes. Neither Hannibal nor Face knew how to respond. Like a kid staying up way past his bedtime to watch monster movies that gave him bad dreams, Murdock did little rebellious things like this sometimes. The damage was done and Murdock had moved on. Face couldn't help but wonder if it had helped or hurt his best friend to see the images of the Vietnam War again as represented by that movie.

"So this Wagner stuff was part of that movie?" B. A.'s voice came from where he lay on the floor of the chopper.

"Oh yeah. Buncha shit that. Th' PSYOP teams played somethin' called 'The Wanderin' Soul' t' rattle th' NVA 'n' VC, not Wagner. Played on their superstitions 'bout ghosts 'n' th' afterlife. It's nickname was 'Ghost Tape Number 10.'" Murdock snorted at the memory of the village bombing run in the movie and reflected for a few silent moments.

Hannibal and Face couldn't begin to know how Murdock knew about psychological warfare methods. The Lieutenant touched his friend on the arm and the pilot startled out of his meditations. "But I knew it a'ready from some ol' opera records my Gramma 'n' Grampa owned. It's called 'The Ride o' the Valkyries'. Those women singin' were s'posed t' be daughters o' Wotan the war god. They were collectin' up th' bodies o' fallen soldiers t' haul 'em off t' a place called Valhalla. Well, I ain' one o' them but I thought it'd make th' bad guys sit up 'n' take notice." He paused and glanced at each of his team mates. "Sure am glad I wasn' havin' t' collect up yer bodies."

"We are too, Captain."

"B'sides, you heard me. I can't hit th' high notes."

Murdock was joking around but his three team mates thought about what he said about the movie. Face wondered what kind of nightmares and flashbacks his use of Wagner's music to rescue them would bring.

Before they could say anything more, the pilot had moved on to a new subject. "Look, I'm gonna land this bird in a field not very far 'way from th' hospital where I took th' bus driver. Should be able t' get t' the van from there. Sound good?"

"Sounds good, Captain." Hannibal gave Face a hard look. They would take turns making sure at least one of them stayed awake with him through the next few nights. He would not be alone.


End file.
